Disappointing #2

I've decided to bite the bullet and write a second negative restaurant review (here's my first). This meal was particularly disappointing, since it was part of our anniversary weekend in Chicago. Thankfully there were several other culinary experiences that saved the weekend.

On Saturday evening, after a less-than-enjoyable afternoon at the Field Museum, we got all dolled up and walked to Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill, winner of a 2007 James Beard Foundation award.

My first issue with Frontera is that they don't accept reservations. I understand that once a place gets famous (via Food Network, PBS, etc.), the owner wants locals to still be able to come and eat without getting totally shut out by the reservation process. But when you walk in at 6:30pm and are told that your wait will be three hours, there's something wrong.

Still, we had it on good authority that this place was ah-maz-ing and would be worth whatever wait we had to endure. So we found a place to stand at the bar (all the seats were taken) and began our three-hour wait. Thankfully a couple at a side counter were taken to their table about half an hour after we arrived, so we were able to grab their seats.

We finally flagged down a bar waiter to take our drink orders. Upon his return (20 minutes later), he asked if we'd like to order food. Appetizers, right? we asked. No, he said, we could actually order dinner there, if we'd like. Great! Our three-hour wait just got cut in half.

What I Ate:

• for the table - corn chips with guacamole, chipotle salsa, & tomatillo salsa
• appetizer - Flautas de Camarones: crispy taquitos filled with wild Mazaltan shrimp, Prairie Farms goat cheese, poblano chile, and sundried tomatoes, served with roasted tomatillo sauce and frisee-watercress salad
• entree - Trucha al Guajillo: crispy guajillo-marinated Rushing Waters trout with quajillo-lime salsa, served with garlic-poached fingerling potatoes and Three Sister Garden "shoots" salad
• drink #1 - Topolo Margarita: Sauza Conmemorativo tequila, Gran Torres liquer and housemade limonada, shaked at the table
• drink #2 - Vampiro Fronterizo: El Milagro Silver tequila and Maraca bloody Mary mix, spiked with fresh lime juice - this drink was so tart & strong (read: disgusting) that I almost couldn't finish it

It all sounds so good, right? Well, the dishes just weren't as flavorful as the menu descriptions made them out to be. And Topher's entree wasn't hot; it was barely lukewarm. And imagine trying to balance on a bar stool to eat while being elbowed in the back by people trying to get to the bar - fun times. Apparently we're not the only ones who have had a subpar experience here, either.

Another tip: don't order the Trago Bravo (100% Blue Agave Silver tequila with spicy sangrita chaser and serrano chile) - it's downright painful.

Bottom line: For the money, and for all the hype, we expected much better. Mediocre food + poor service = disappointing.

Anniversary Brunch

After our deep-dish pizza lunch at Lou Malnati's, my husband and I spent the afternoon at the Field Museum in Grant Park. I can't say that I would recommend it: it was crowded, hot & stuffy, with kids running everywhere.

That evening we went to dinner at a well-known Mexican restaurant whose chef has appeared on PBS and the Food Network. We were really looking forward to that meal, and unfortunately we were disappointed. The meal wasn't bad; but it was a long wait for food that wasn't great, far short of the fave reviews we'd heard.

Sunday (our actual anniversary) redeemed the weekend. My husband, being his usual romantic self, found a great place for us to celebrate with a scrumptious French brunch: Bistro 110. When he made the reservation, he mentioned it was our anniversary, so our waiter greeted us with complimentary glasses of sparkling rosé wine. :)

What I Ate:

• Bistro bellini: Champagne with fresh white peach puree
• Fresh bread, served with raspberry jam and a whole roasted clove of garlic - the featured ingredient of the month was garlic (yay!)
• Shrimp Gumbo: traditional Louisiana gumbo with Gulf shrimp, andouille sausage, tasso ham, okra, and rice - not too spicy, just flavorful
• Eggs Louisiana: sautéed crab cakes topped with poached eggs, Hollandaise and Creole sauce
• Gateau Breton: a traditional French cake from the Brittany region of France, made with sea salt, served with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and caramel sauce - a good balance of sweet & slightly salty, my favorite dish of the meal!

The Scoop:

Bistro 110 (www.bistro110restaurant.com) is located at 110 East Pearson Street, Chicago, IL 60611. Their hours are M-Sat 11:30am-10pm, Sun 10:30am-4pm (brunch) and 4-9pm (dinner). Reservations are available by calling (312)266-3110.

After brunch we spent a few hours at the Chicago Institute of Art, in the Impressionist (good Matisse exhibit) and Contemporary art wings. Afterwards we walked to Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park (photo above). Obviously, the weather wasn't great - lots of clouds and fog the whole weekend - but I think I might have been disappointed if we hadn't experienced "real" Chicago weather. Overall it was a fun, relaxing getaway weekend with my wonderful hubby!

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

Before our trip, I posted a note about our travel plans on my Facebook page, and a friend of mine from Philly who went to school at Wheaton College recommended a place for us to find authentic Chicago-style deep-dish pizza: Lou Malnati's.

After a morning of walking through Millennium Park (the photo above was taken at the Cloud Gate sculpture) and up Michigan Avenue's Magnificent Mile, we were starving. When our waitress came to take our order, we asked for her recommendation, and without hesitation she suggested the sausage pizza. As soon as we ordered, she told us it would be a 35-minute wait (?!). Thankfully, it didn't take nearly that long, but if it had, I think it would've been worth it.

What We Ate:

• small deep-dish sausage pizza - they're not chintzy on the sausage! and a small was plenty of food for two people
• Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale - a good local brew that goes well with pizza

The Scoop:

There are locations of Lou Malnati's (www.loumalnatis.com) all over the greater Chicago area. The one we visited is in downtown, north of the river, at 439 North Wells Street, Chicago, IL 60610.

Celebrating Our First Anniversary in the Windy City

My husband and I recently celebrated our first anniversary with a weekend getaway to Chicago. We flew out of Norfolk right after work on Friday and landed in Chicago with plenty of time to get dinner and catch a 9:30pm set at a local jazz club. Unfortunately, we didn't make reservations ahead of time (oops) and couldn't get in. So we walked backed to Ben Pao, an upscale Chinese place that we'd passed on the way to the jazz club and that smelled fabulous. We figured, if it could make it in downtown Chicago, it must be pretty good -- and we were right.

What We Ate:

• hand-crafted ginger shrimp dumplings: shrimp dumplings, spicy honey soy, sichuan chili oil, fresh ginger and chives - just the right amount of heat
• sesame-crusted salmon: all-natural Scottish salmon filet with teriyaki glaze and shanghai bok choy - bok choy is yummy, and the salmon was cooked perfectly!
• panang curry chicken: all-natural chicken breast with kitchen-crafted coconut-peanut curry, fresh-peeled water chestnuts, finger bamboo, Thai basil and snow peas - cooked and served in a clay pot
• chocolate banana egg roll: creamy milk chocolate and banana rolled in a crisp golden wrapper; served with vanilla ice cream
• sake sangria: riesling wine, asian pear sake, macerated fuji apples, lychees, mandarin oranges and red grapes - the Riesling keeps this drink from being too sweet

The Scoop:

Ben Pao (www.benpao.com) is located at 52 W. Illinois, Chicago, IL 60654. Reservations are available by calling (312)222-1888.